DUBAI, U.A.E. – While global lubricant demand collapsed in 2009, consumption in China rose to over 6 million tons, and is expected to climb to 6.5 million tons this year, according to PetroChina, increasing the countrys appetite for imported base oils. Imported base oils will play a more and more important role in meeting Chinas surging demand for lubricants, Jinyuan Kong, senior engineer and vice director with the PetroChina Planning & Engineering Institute, told the ICIS Middle Eas...

Enterprise Products Partners on Thursday closed on a $38.5 million deal to buy out of bankruptcy Bigler LPs Houston Ship Channel facility that produces high-purity isobutylene and provides terminal services for refined products and petrochemicals. On Friday, Enterprise stated the facility can produce more than 300 million pounds of HPIB annually, a substantial portion of which is under contract. The chemical is used in lubricant base stocks and additives, tires and other petroleum-based product...

MOSCOW – Global lubricant demand should partially recover this year to reach 36 million tons, a 10 percent increase from 2009, driven by growth in emerging markets that should compensate for volume declines in mature markets, Fuchs forecasts. The volume of lubricants in mature markets will definitely decline, Christian Ohligmacher, vice president and member of the executive committee at Fuchs Europe, told the Lubricants Russia 2010 conference earlier this month. However, the growth in the...

Rogers Petroleum acquired Kelso Oils interest in LubriCorp, which the two southeastern distributors had formed in December 2008. Terms were not disclosed. We decided to sell our interest to Rogers so that we can concentrate on and pursue our interest in real estate development, said Chris Gettelfinger, Kelso chairman and CEO. The change will have no impact on the lubricants part of the business, LubriCorp CEO Mike Foltz told Lube Report. LubriCorp of Knoxville, Tenn., will continue to distribu...

Navistar will recall more than 2,700 commercial trucks, buses and school buses because of the possibility a defective oil supply tube could leak and lead to an engine compartment fire. Announced Monday, the two recalls include 2,309 commercial trucks and buses, and 416 school buses manufactured from February through September 2010. The engine turbo oil supply line may interfere with the frame rail, possibly causing a high pressure oil leak in the engine compartment, Navistar stated in its init...

FMC Lithium and BASF increased prices for chemicals used in manufacturing greases and lubricants, respectively, while Oxea announced a hike in solvents prices. FMC Lithium of Charlotte, N.C., noted that effective Dec. 1 or as contracts permit, it will raise off-list prices for non-energy applications of lithium hydroxide by an average of 10 percent. Lithium hydroxide monohydrate is the key ingredient in making lithium soap greases. This increase is necessary to offset increased raw material, p...

The U.S. is tight for December, but may be running out of steam. Europe is a little busier on some deep-sea routes, but volumes on domestic routes are below the seasonal average. Asia is doing okay, and supply/demand is well matched. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Routes in and around the Caribbean are performing satisfactorily without any major drama. There is some open space for end November, and there is a new batch of chemicals, vegetable oils and tallow cargoes being quoted for end November and earl...